


Queen of Hearts

by ClaraKeanen



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Gotham (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Anxiety Disorder, BAMF Barbara Gordon, Best Friend Selina Kyle, Disfigurement, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, Female Friendship, Love/Hate, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Bruce Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Jim Gordon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 12:47:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraKeanen/pseuds/ClaraKeanen
Summary: “Harley, please – ““No!” Barbara cried, the rage in her voice completely shocking Robert. She whirled around to face Jerome, and he saw the tears streaming down her eyes. “You left me!"Jerome began to shake desperately. “Harley, please, let me explain – ““No! Just leave me alone!”“Harley. HARLEY!” Robert heard the sound of Jerome’s roar, and then the sound of flesh hitting flesh as the officers wrestled him to the ground. A pit of dread appeared in his stomach, and Robert moved much faster than his age allowed, getting the car unlocked and peeling away from the circus in a mere matter of seconds. The sound of Jerome’s screams for Barbara – no, for “Harley” –  dissolved in the night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to "Queen of Hearts"! I'm playing a lot with different characterizations in the Gotham/DC toolbox, so I figured it would be best to clear some of those items up before getting started. I've listed them here, and whether or not they're from the Gotham world or a standard DC characterization. Clearly, I'm manipulating all of these characters to serve the story, but I just want to make it clear that all of the relationships here are appropriate (especially given that the Gotham iterations of Bruce and Selina are kids):
> 
> Barbara - DC-verse, 26 years old  
> Bruce - DC-verse, 31 years old  
> Jerome - Gotham, 30 years old (honestly, I could imagine either Cameron M. or Jared Leto in this role - pick your favorite!)  
> Jim - Gotham, 40 years old; in my story, he's Barbara's old brother, not father  
> Selina - DC-verse, 30 years old  
> Harvey Dent - The Dark Knight version, in his 30s  
> Harvey Bullock - Gotham  
> Edward Nygma - Gotham  
> Oswald Cobblepot - Gotham  
> Alfred Pennyworth - DC-verse  
> Barbara Kean - Gotham  
> Tabitha Galavan - Gotham  
> Dick Grayson - DC-verse  
> Jason Todd - DC-verse  
> Lucius Fox - DC-verse  
> Luke Fox - Batgirl of Burnside series
> 
> I'll try to be faithful in updating! I'm going to be out of the country until mid-June, so it'll be awhile until my next posting, but this story is practically writing itself. I hope you enjoy the first four chapters of "Queen of Hearts"!

Tiny hands laid the cards down on the table. “Royal flush!”

Robert Gordon looked at his wife Helena, shaking his head. “I’ve got nothing.”

Barbara cheered loudly, snatching the last of the Oreos from his pile. Helena sighed, watching her husband in amusement. “This  _was_ your idea.”

“I mean, I knew she was brilliantly smart, but mastering poker this quickly?”

Barbara smushed an Oreo into her mouth and began munching happily as Robert and Helena watched. 

“She’s brilliant.”

“She’s five.”

“Like I said,” Helena replied, leaning back in her chair, “your idea.”

Robert just grumbled in response, causing Barbara to giggle, little pieces of cookie escaping here lips. “Play again?”

Pushing down on the table, Robert stood, knees cracking from the sudden movement. “Not tonight, sweetheart. Grandpa’s all out of Oreos.”

Barbara frowned as she swallowed the last of her cookie. “Rats.”

“Besides, it’s time for little girls to go to bed,” Helena chimed in, nodding at Barbara.

“But – “

“Your grandmother’s right, Barbie. Besides, the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner the circus will be here.”

“And Halloween?”

“And Halloween.”

Cheering, Barbara scooted off of her kitchen chair and ran down the hallway towards her bedroom, pigtails swinging. “I’m ready for bed now!”

Helena watched her granddaughter fondly. “Would you like to tuck her in tonight?”

Robert shook his head. “I’m gonna give Jim a call, see how school was today.” He paused. “Think we can get Barbara to swindle him out of his extra football jersey?”

Helena slapped Robert on her arm before following Barbara down the hallway. “She needs to use her powers for good, Robbie, not evil. Besides, I’m sure he’d give it over if she just asked nicely enough. That’s how she got that giant stuffed bat, after all.”

Robert snorted, nodding as he watched his wife of forty years tuck his youngest grandchild in. “Couldn’t ever say no to her mother, either.” In the silence that followed he sighed again before looking at his daughter and son-in-law’s ashes that were resting on the mantle. “Just like you, Maria. Just like you.”

___

“Left arm.”

Barbara stuck out her arm, stuffing it into the long red sleeve.

“Right arm.”

She repeated the action, this time sticking her arm into a long black sleeve.

“Suck in the tummy.”

Breathing in, Barbara held her breath as Grandma zipped up her jumpsuit. Standing up, Grandma nodded at Barbara before handing her the hat. “Come take a look.”

She rushed towards the long mirror and stopped, staring at her reflection.

“What do you think, sweetheart?”

Beaming, Barbara bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “Awesome!”

“You really outdid yourself this year, my dear,” Grandpa said, stepping into his room and adjusting his crown. 

“Yes, well, it’s not every day we get to go to the circus. And on Halloween, too!” Grandma picked up her heart-shaped scepter. 

“Grandpa! Do you like it?”

He looked affront it. “Like it?” Dropping to his knees, he grasped hold of Barbara and wrapped her tightly in his arms. “I love it! You’ll be the cutest little harlequin there, Barbie!” Pursing his lips, he pressed a wet kiss to her cheek, causing her to squeal and push him away. 

“Can we go now? Please?”

“That’s up to the Queen,” he replied, looking at Grandma, who was putting on her red cape. “Your highness, may we proceed to the royal gathering of mystics and fools?”

Snorting, Grandma held out a long black cape to Grandpa and nodded her head. “As soon as my King gets his car keys, we can go.”

Winking at Barbara, Grandpa stood up, grabbed his keys and wallet, and escorted Grandma to the car by her arm. “Come now, harlequin! The royal chariot awaits!”

___

They moved through the line at Haly’s Circus rather quickly, and before she knew it Grandma was tying a ribbon around Barbara’s hand. “Now, make sure you don’t run off too far ahead, okay?”

Nodding, Barbara bounced in place. “Can we go now?”

“I suppose – “

Barbara turned on her heel and raced towards the large tiger pen, ignoring her grandparent’s calls for her name. She came to a quick stop in front of it, gazing in awe at the large napping cat.

“Wow,” she breathed, watching as its tail flicked in response. Turning to her left, she continued running down the row, stopping in front of each of the cages and watching the animals for a bit before moving on to the next one. Reaching the end of the animal cages, Barbara spotted a mirror maze.

“Oooh, Grandpa! Can we go? Can we – “ She turned around to look at Grandpa, but he wasn’t there. Grandma wasn’t either. In fact, there was no sign of either of them, just a large crowd of people she didn’t know.

Barbara began to whimper and stepped backwards. “Grandpa?”

“You lost?”

Shrieking, Barbara turned around and found herself face to face with a boy. He was at least a foot taller than her, although it might have been a bit less, she couldn’t really tell. His bright red hair was so poofy it almost looked like it was standing straight up on his head. There was spotty white paint on his face, and he was dressed in a ragged looking suit with stained white gloves on his hands.

“Hello?” He asked, waving his hand in front of his face. “Is anybody there?”

Barbara nodded, wiping at her watery eyes. “Yeah.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Are you lost?”

Tears filled up her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Well, you’re in luck. I run the place!”

A small wrinkle appeared between Barbara’s eyebrows. “No way!”

“Yeah way!”

“You’re just a kid!”

“So?”

“You’re really in charge?”

The boy sighed. “Well, not yet. But I will be.” He looked down at her again. “Nice costume. What are you supposed to be?”

“A harlequin.”

It was the boy’s turn to frown. “What’s that?”

“The jester in a pack of cards.” 

“Weird.” Shaking his head, he stuck out his hand. “Well, I’m Jerome. It's nice to meet you, Harlee-quinn.”

Barbara smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Jerome.”

The boy nodded at her before turning around. Barbara frowned and was about to step towards him when he turned back to face her. "Are you coming?"

"Coming where?" She asked, traipsing up to his side.

"To find your family!"

"You'll help me?"

"Why not? I've got nothing better to do right now anyways."

Barbara grabbed hold of Jerome's hand and pulled him after her. "Let's go!"

___

If she was being totally honest with herself, Helena wasn’t surprised that when she and Robert finally caught up to Barbara, she was busy devouring a stick of cotton candy with a young boy Helena had never seen before.

Barbara looked up from her cotton candy and spotted them. “Grandma! Grandpa!”

Shoving the treat towards the boy, she ran straight towards Helena and jumped into her arms. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get lost, I – “

Helena hugged her granddaughter tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. “We were so worried about you, sweetheart.” Pulling back, she smoothed back Barbara’s hair. “Don’t run away from us again, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied, voice muffled in Helena’s arms. Helena sighed again and turned to look at Robert, who was breathing heavily next to her, shoulders sagging in relief. “We’re all okay.”

The boy standing behind them cleared his throat, and Barbara turned to look at him, smiling brightly. “Grandma, Grandpa, this is Jerome! He’s nice and helped me when I was lost and got me cotton candy!”

“He did, huh?” Robert said, looking at the boy appraisingly. Stepping around Barbara, he knelt on the ground and held out his hand. “You have my thanks, Jerome.”

Eying it cautiously, the boy held out his hand and shook it. “You’re welcome, sir,” his tone of voice practiced and calmly measured.

 “Would you care to watch the performance with us?" Robert continued, watching the way Barbara's face lit up as she looked at the boy. 

Jerome shook his head. “I can’t, I’m a part of the show.”

“Really?” Barbara asked, forgetting her grandmother and running over to Jerome. “You’re in the circus?”

The boy winced. “Yeah – “

“That’s so cool!”

His face lit up. “Really?”

“Really!”

Helena walked up behind Robert. “How about you join us again after the show then, Jerome? You can give us a proper tour.”

His eyes flickered up towards Helena. Tilting his head, he squinted. “Are you the Queen of Hearts?”

“Of course,” Helena replied in a regal tone. “And my husband, the King of Spades.”

Robert bowed in reply. “At your service.”

Jerome laughed loudly before returning Robert's bow. “It would be my honor, your majesties.”

___

In spite of the rocky start, the circus, in Helena’s opinion, had been a resounding success. Barbara had been completely entranced by the main attraction at the circus, cheering wildly whenever Jerome came on stage with the clown posse. The boy had found them rather quickly soon after, and Robert and Helena had to walk quickly to keep up as the pair ran from tent to tent. 

In a moment of respite, Barbara was watching the man who swallowed fire in total awe. Jerome was at her side, eyes flickering between the act and the expression on Barbara’s face.

Helena had found herself next to the “gypsy” Madame Elina, actually Jessica Stevens from Metropolis. The woman had taken one look at Barbara and Jerome and had walked over to Helena and Robert, divining instantaneously that Barbara was theirs.

“I am truly glad the three of you came here today,” Madame Elina had murmured while watching the children. “That boy deserves some happiness in his life, no matter how brief it is.”

Helena’s heart sank. “Does he have family?”

“His mother, the snake dancer,” Elina scoffed quietly. “She’s most certainly not mother of the year.” 

“Is there anything we can do? Surely Child Protective Services – “

“I sent for them myself. They concluded that he was fine.”

“How old – “

“Nine, last month.”

Helena shut her eyes and shook her head. “I wish there was something we could do.”

“Small acts of kindness go a long way,” Elina replied. “That is all we can do sometimes.”

Nodding, Helena watched Barbara and Jerome begin to race towards the popcorn stand. “Now that, I think we can manage.”

__

After about six more hours of cotton candy and lions and fortune tellers, Barbara was starting to lose some steam. She had completely forgone walking twenty minutes earlier, and she was beginning to doze on Robert’s shoulder.

Helena turned to look at Jerome, whose shoulders slumped at her expression. “You have to go, don’t you?”

She nodded sadly. “It’s past her bedtime, I’m afraid. Will you be here much longer?”

Jerome shook his head. “The circus leaves tonight.”

“For what it’s worth, she will miss you dearly. We all will.”

Jerome looked up at her hesitantly. “Really?”

“Really.” Helena turned to look at Robert, who was rubbing Barbara’s back. “Come on sweetheart, it’s time to say goodbye.”

Barbara’s eyes blinked open. Wriggling her feet, Robert set her down. As soon as she was on the ground she threw herself at Jerome and hugged him. “I’ll miss you, Jerome,” she said, tears streaming down her face. 

Clearly caught off guard, the boy wavered for a moment before hugging Barbara back. “I’ll miss you too, Harley.”

At that, Barbara began to cry harder. “Promise me you’ll come back?”

“I’ll do my best.” He began to pat her back, not even trying to fight his own quivering lips. “Hey, I’m going to Gotham in a month; can I send you a postcard? That way, it’s like you’ll be seeing everything that I’m seeing!”

Barbara looked up at him, smiling through her tears. “Really?”

Robert stepped forward. “I think that’s a great idea, Jerome. Here, let me just – “ Robert grabbed Helena’s bag and scrounged around it before finding a pen and paper. “Here’s our post office box,” he said, handing the card to Jerome. “If you mail it there, we’ll get it.”

Letting go of Barbara, Jerome took the paper in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ll do it.”

“Good. We look forward to hearing from you, young man.” He turned to look at Barbara, who was still clinging to Jerome’s side. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

Nodding sadly, Barbara gave Jerome one last squeeze before allowing herself to be swept back up into her grandfather’s arms. “Bye Jerome! Have fun in Gotham! I’ll miss you!”

Jerome disappeared into the crowd, a sole tear streaming down his painted cheek. “I’ll miss you too, Harley!”

_Four Years Later_

“Left arm.”

The arm went in.

“Right arm.”

The other arm went in.

“Suck in the tummy.”

A deep inhale.

Helena stepped back. “What do you think?”

Barbara turned around and examined her reflection in the mirror. Helena had meticulously recreated her original harlequin costume. The circus was back in town – on Halloween again, of all days - and Barbara insisted they go as the Royal Family again, lest Jerome somehow forget what they looked like.

She nodded. “It’s perfect.”

Smiling, Helena took in the dozens of tacked postcards surrounding Barbara’s mirror, all sent to “Harley” from the many stops of Haly’s Circus.

“Grandpa’s waiting in the car – “

Barbara ran past her in a sprint. “Let’s go!”

__

Unlike their first visit to the circus, the line into the circus was slow-moving, and Barbara spent the time hopping from one foot onto the other impatiently as they inched closer and closer to the entrance. The instant the ribbon was tied around her wrist, Barbara dashed off into the circus. This time, Helena and Robert were faster on the draw, and although they moved a bit slower these days, they were able to keep her in eyesight as she ran towards the tiger cage.

Even from thirty yards away Helena could hear Barbara’s delighted squeal. Rounding the corner, Helena and Robert grinned in spite of themselves as Barbara flung herself towards a much taller Jerome, who stumbled backwards at her embrace. His red hair was now slicked back, and his face held the tell-tale signs of teenage hormones, but his beaming smile was exactly the same.

“You’re here!” Barbara shrieked, hugging him tightly.

“I’m always here. I was worried you weren’t going to make it!”

“No way, I'd never miss this!” Jumping back, she grabbed hold of his hand. “I owe you some cotton candy. Grandpa?”

“Lead the way,” Robert replied, following after Barbara as she sprinted towards the cotton candy stand.

Jerome fell in step with Helena. She turned to look at him. “I like your suit. Is it new?”

He nodded. “I’m officially part of the clown posse. It’s my shtick these days,” he replied.

“Well, congratulations! Do you have an official clown name or something like that?”

He nodded. “Harley inspired me, actually,” he said, nodding towards Barbara. “Harlequin’s a harder name for people to pronounce, so I went with the more common name instead. I’m the Joker.”

She was saved from replying by a bouncing Barbara, who’d returned with a large stick of cotton candy and was shoving it into Jerome’s hands. Grinning, Jerome let himself be dragged around by the younger girl, completely oblivious to Helena’s watching eyes as they moved from attraction to attraction.

Robert walked over to her side, eyes following Barbara’s movements as well. “I feel sorry for the kid. Living this way can’t be good for him.”

“No,” Helena spoke in a low voice, almost to herself. “It certainly can’t be.”

Helena would never admit this out loud, but she was immensely grateful that it started raining a few hours later, meaning that the circus had to be packed up, shortening Haly’s already short stay. Barbara was extremely reticent to leave her friend behind, let alone stop hugging him, but she was finally coaxed away by Robert, under the guise of making sure that Jerome didn't get in trouble for lingering too long.

However, linger Jerome did, and although she forced herself to turn away from the young man, Helena knew for certain that his eyes were glued on Barbara as they left the circus once again.

_Four Years Later_

“Barbara! Barbara!”

A sharp cry sounded and Robert turned around, just in time to see Barbara run past the group of police officers and into his arms. She grabbed hold of him and sobbed.

Sighing in relief, he wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

Barbara shook her head quickly. “They, they – “ she hiccupped, “the high schoolers, they – “

Her words became intelligible as she sobbed. He ran his hands over her back, stopping as they encountered a large bandage. Barbara winced as he touched it.

"What happened to your back?"

She began to cry harder, and at the sound one of the officers walked over and addressed Robert. The words blurred together as the officer spoke – something about burn cream, going to see a skin doctor in the morning.  

“Thank you, officer," he finally replied, shaking the fog out of his head. With a nod, the officer moved back towards the gathered squad, and Robert released Barbara from his embrace. "Let’s go home.”

Nodding, Barbara allowed Robert to guide her away, exchanging a few more words with the police officer guarding the entrance to the circus. They were less than twenty feet away from Haly's when a voice rang out in the night. “Harley? Harley!”

Barbara froze.

Robert turned around just in time to see Jerome running after them. The boy – no, Robert thought to himself, the man – was out of breath, and came to a stop about ten feet away from them. He began to walk towards them.

“Harley, please – “

“No!” Barbara cried, the rage in her voice completely shocking Robert. She whirled around to face Jerome, and he saw the tears streaming down her eyes. “You left me!"

Jerome began to shake desperately. “Harley, please, let me explain – “

“No! Just leave me alone!”

His eyes burned as he looked at her, with anger or tears Robert couldn’t discern. “Harley – “

“I never want to see you again!” She screamed. “Go away!”

At the sound of her voice, two officers scurried down the hill towards the group. “Mr. Valeska, we need you to return to the circus.”

The young man frowned. “In a minute.”

“We need you to return now – “

“I said, in a minute!”

Robert reached for Barbara and pulled her away, eyes glued to the increasingly irate man in front of them. “Let’s go, honey.”

Nodding, Barbara turned her back on Jerome once again and walked quickly past Robert, who followed after her, albeit a quick slower.

“Harley. HARLEY!” Robert heard the sound of Jerome’s roar, and then the sound of flesh hitting flesh as the officers wrestled him to the ground. A pit of dread appeared in his stomach, and Robert moved much faster than his age allowed, getting the car unlocked and peeling away from the circus in a mere matter of seconds. The sound of Jerome’s screams for Barbara – no, for “Harley” –  dissolved in the night.

Sighing in relief, Robert turned to look at his granddaughter. She was staring out the window into the darkened countryside, tears streaming down her face.

“What happened back there? With that Jerome?” He asked quietly.

She leaned her head against the window, strains of “Monster Mash” preventing the car from being completely silent. “I was wrong.”

They were silent the rest of the drive home.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into Gotham City. Please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated until the plane comes to a complete stop. Thank you for flying Central Air."

Barbara slowly blinked awake at the pilot's instructions. Shaking her head in an attempt to dispel the sleep from her eyes, Barbara turned to face the window. It was still a shock to the system, travelling as a civilian. Every time she woke up on a plane, she half-expected to be landing at Headquarters in Virginia, or one of the several U.S. black sites she'd supervised on occasion. Agent Dedalus had said it would take a bit before she'd adjust back to civilian life – and to civilian travel. 

_"In all honesty, it's hell, Babs. Most agents that I've worked with end up coming back after two months of civilian life. Once you live this sort of lifestyle, see this sort of fucking shit on a day to day basis, it's hard to slow down. Besides, you're one of the best o_ _fficers_ _we've ever had in Special Programs."_

_"I appreciate it, Isaac, I really do, but it's time. I'm ready to go home."_

Eight years had been more than enough for her. She'd missed being able to tell people where she was, or what she was doing. She'd missed having a normal routine, which the offer from Fox was certain to provide. And most of all, she missed Jim. He was all the family she had left now, after all. She didn't want to spend any more of it away from him than necessary. 

The wheels of the plane bumped against the ground, and Barbara leaned forward in her seat to stop her water bottle from falling onto the floor below. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in downtown Gotham City. It is currently 68 degrees outside and cloudy with a chance of rain later on today. Please remember to take all your items with you when you exit the plane, and to pick up your checked backs at Terminal C. Once again, thank you for flying Central Air."

As soon as the plane reached the gate, Barbara stood up, wrenched her regulation duffel bag from the overhead compartments, and made her way off the plane, backpack and duffel in tow. The rest of her meager possessions had been sent on ahead – the agency had provided most of the essentials for her use, so she really didn't own much. That was one of the first things on the list to fix.

After walking for about ten minutes or so, Barbara finally reached Terminal C. A huge crowd of reporters and cameramen were swarming baggage claim, so Barbara stood on her toes and tried to maneuver her way over to the wall.

"Mr. Wayne!"

"Mr. Wayne, is it true?"

"Are you involved with both of the Mendes sisters?"

"Just what exactly happened in Greece?"

"Barbara!"

Now, that last voice she recognized. Turning, she saw Jim standing near the exit doors, waving madly.

Grinning, Barbara wrapped her backpack around her shoulder and began shoving her way through the paparazzi, not paying any attention to who she was stepping on. Finally, she broke free of the crowd, dropped her duffel, and jumped into Jim's arms. He groaned into her hair. "It's so good to see you, Barbie."

Barbara squeezed tightly. "I've missed you so much, Jim."

"I'm glad you're home."

"I'm glad to BE home."

Jim patted her on the back, which was his signal that he was going to release her. He set her back down on the ground before reaching behind her and grabbing her duffel. "Is this it?"

"Yeah. I need to do some shopping, I think."

"Great! You can chaperone Selina."

Barbara mock-groaned. "You're still dating that one?"

"Dating and living together," he replied, leading Barbara towards the door. 

"Really?" Her façade broke. "Good! I really like her."

"Yeah," he replied softly, a small smile on his face. "I do too."

Giggling, Barbara punched him in the shoulder. "Aren't you just the cutest?"

"All right, laugh it up, just wait 'til it's your turn, baby sister. Then we'll see who's laughing." Jim opened the door, and the humid Gotham breeze hit Barbara like a brick in the face.

"Didn't miss this weather," she murmured to herself.

"Hey, you wanted to move here," was Jim's quick reply as he threw her duffel into the back of his unmarked police car. "You said that you had an offer in Metropolis too."

"And let you run around like a crazy person in Gotham without any adult supervision? Yeah, I don't think so."

A large black Mercedes-Benz pulled up behind Jim's car. A surprisingly muscular gray-haired man dressed as a turn of the century English butler stepped out from behind the wheel and walked over to greet Jim. "Commissioner Gordon."

"Alfred, good to see you. Barbara," Jim turned to face her, "this is Alfred Pennyworth."

Barbara grabbed and shook Alfred's outstretched man. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Pennyworth."

"Likewise, Ms. Gordon. And please, call me Alfred."

Barbara eyes flicked between the two. "Do you work with Jim?"

"He works for Bruce Wayne," Jim replied for Alfred.

"Oh, well, me too, I guess!" Barbara smiled at Alfred. "I start on Monday."

"Yes, Lucius mentioned he had a new recruit coming in. I look forward to hearing all about your work."

The door behind them suddenly shot open as the paparazzi spilled out of the terminal, forming a circular barrier around the dark-haired man and two blonde women who he had his arms around.

"If you will excuse me," Alfred bowed to Barbara and Jim, "duty calls."

"Not a problem. Good to see you Alfred!" Jim waved as he walked away. Grabbing hold of Barbara's hand, he led her towards the car. "Let's see if we can beat the circus, hmm?"

Barbara froze for a moment before shooting Jim a grin that was a bit too big and forced for the situation. "That sounds good to me!"

Jim ignored her discomfort, instead opting to shut the trunk and escort her to the front of the car. "Great," he held open the passenger door for her. "The sooner we get home, the sooner we can try to salvage whatever Selina's tried to make for dinner."

"It can't be that bad," she replied, buckling herself in. 

Jim laughed as he shut his door and started the car. "Famous last words, little sister. Famous last words."

___

"I still can't believe that the brownstone next door to yours was open!" Barbara remarked as they got out of the car. "I mean, what are the odds?"

She turned to look at Jim, who was looking suspiciously flushed at her comments. 

Barbara narrowed her eyes. "Jim? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Huffing loudly, Barbara began to tap her foot. "Jim?"

"No, he's telling the truth," a new voice spoke. "He hasn't done anything with the property for the last six months. Said he had some sort of hunch that you'd be moving to Gotham." Selina stepped out of the garage, dressed in an immaculate black pantsuit.  "He was right, of course."

Grinning, Barbara ran over to Selina and threw her arms around her in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!" 

She could practically feel Selina's smile. "So am I, Babs." Selina pulled back and took a good look at her. "I like the short hair!" She exclaimed, fingering through the locks of Barbara's hair that just barely touched her shoulders.

Barbara shrugged. "It was easier to just keep it short when I was there. I'm thinking I'll grow it out, now that I have time to use special products and stuff."

"Well, if you need any help with shopping for that - "

"She needs help with shopping, period," Jim replied, shutting the trunk and walking over with her duffel. "She said so, herself."

"Well," Selina quirked her eyebrow and winked at Barbara, "that I certainly know how to do."

"Speaking of how-tos, how did dinner turn out?" 

Huffing, Selina turned on her heel. "I swear, burn one chicken and you don't hear the end of it!"

Jim followed Selina in, bickering lightly about the infamous Valentine's day incident. Barbara continued to smile as she watched them walk into their home, before eying her own interconnected brownstone. This, she felt in her heart, was absolutely the right choice.

 


	3. Chapter 3

This was the wrong choice. 

Grimacing, Barbara spat the watery-liquid back into the coffee cup it came from and dumped the entire thing in the trash. She'd been hoping to avoid stopping at Starbucks before heading to Wayne Enterprises and had grabbed a disposable travel mug of coffee from Selina instead. Jim had watched her in amusement but didn't try to stop her, the bastard. Well, what Selina didn't know couldn't hurt her. 

 _You could have warned me about the coffee,_  she texted Jim.

**And miss out on picturing that expression during my meeting with the DA today? Not a chance.**

Grumbling, Barbara strode into Wayne Enterprises and headed over to the semi-crowded elevator bank. There was a decently long line waiting to access the elevator bank, as security at Wayne Enterprises was renowned for making everyone – even Bruce Wayne himself – get cleared by a TSA-level scanning system before accessing the Tower.

Barbara tugged on her fitted sheath pink dress subconsciously and readjusted her charcoal-gray blazer. At least her clothing fit right in with the other women waiting in line. 

The weekend had been a total blur. As soon as Barbara had finished having dinner with Jim and Selina, the three of them had unpacked the few boxes Jim was storing in her brownstone before calling it a night. She'd been grateful for that, as it gave her the opportunity to shove her childhood boxes into her basement storage room without interruption. Selina had stopped over again early Sunday morning, and Barbara had spent the rest of her day – and most of her final paycheck – buying appropriate "corporate-wear", as well as some cost-effective decorations and "household necessities". Jim, naturally, was absolutely no help in any of those departments, but carried their purchases "which," Selina had said, "is the perfect excuse to see a man's true character." 

_"Speaking of a man's true character," Barbara spoke from behind the box of kitchen utensils she was loading into Jim's car, "any advice for working at Wayne Enterprises?" She shut the door and turned to look at a contemplative Selina. "Jim said you know some people that work there."_

_"If you're referring to Bruce, he's harmless," she finally replied. "Well, mostly harmless. He acts like a total playboy, but he's got one of the best minds in the business. Wayne Enterprises is a boy's club_ _though._ _If you want to be taken seriously, you have to take it seriously. Just be aggressive in what you want and what you want to do and it should work out._

_"Oh, and don't take shit from anyone."_

_Barbara smirked back at her. "I think I can manage that."_

"Name?"

Barbara smiled at the security guard standing at the base of the elevator bank. "Barbara Gordon, here to meet with Lucius Fox."

Humming to himself, the guard flipped through his clipboard. "Checks out. If you'll wait just one moment, Ms. Gordon - "

"That won't be necessary, but thank you, Steven." Barbara turned just in time to see a gleeful Lucius Fox rounding the corner, dressed in a dark gray suit. "Ms. Gordon, welcome to Wayne Enterprises."

Smiling widely, Barbara stepped towards him and shook his outstretched hand. "Thank you, Mr. Fox. I'm looking forward to getting started."

"Excellent," he beamed at her. "If you'll come with me, we'll get you up and running in no time!"

__

" - seventh floor fitness center is free of charge to all Wayne Enterprises employees. Just make sure you keep your ID badge on you at all times, because you won't be able to access those amenities otherwise. Now, all I need from you is your signature on those non-disclosure agreements we talked about, as well as the standard Wayne Enterprises non-compete agreement, and we'll get you set up in the lab."

Barbara forced herself to nod, mentally cataloguing the tour information she'd gotten from Lucius for review at a later date. He ushered her into his office, where three men in impeccable suits were waiting. Papers appeared in front of her eyes, and after skimming them quickly, she signed on the dotted line. As soon as they were signed, the papers – the men – disappeared from the office.

"Wonderful. Ms. Gordon, it is my honor to be the first to say, welcome aboard." The older man smiled at her, dimples in his dark cheeks, and Barbara couldn't stop herself from grinning back at him.

"Now! Here's your badge and access card. Being in your position, you'll have access to all of the R&D floors in the tower. If you'll follow me, I'll introduce you to your team." Lucius Fox walked past her and Barbara followed him back out of the office and down the hallway to a much smaller elevator. After being retinally scanned, the elevator door slid open, and Barbara and Lucius began the descent into R&D.

"The Wayne Research Institute has only been up and running for about ten years now, and for the first six of those there was only one employee working in R&D: Me."

The doors slid open, and Barbara started walking quickly to keep up with Lucius' pace. "After some smaller acquisitions, Mr. Wayne felt more comfortable funding an on-site R&D development department. As you know, most of the actual research and production occurs on one of our satellite sites around the world. Since Mr. Wayne re-prioritized the Institute during last year's annual shareholder's meeting, we've been able to move our final stage product-testing into the Tower. We have about twenty specialists in-house and usually somewhere between fifteen or twenty visiting at all times. The floaters are typically here a month or two before their product is presented to the board at one of their quarterly meetings. If our engineers do their job right, you'll never see them."

Raising her finger, Barbara was about to ask a question when they walked into a very large and very expensive looking lab. There were about three dozen people clustered around a dozen or so tables, while still more people could be seen in the volatile testing rooms in the back.

"May I have your attention please!" The scientists quieted down almost instantly. 

Lucius cleared his throat before continuing. "As most of you know, with the expansion of the Research Institute Mr. Wayne has deemed it necessary for me to play a larger role in our corporate division. After a considerable amount of searching, I have selected my successor, someone who is well-versed in military grade technology and weaponry. May I introduce the new Wayne Institute Research and Development Supervisor Barbara Gordon, Former CIA Special Agent and Supervising Specialist of the CIA's Special Programs division. All your products and results will now be channeled through her. I will no longer be involved in the day to day operations unless at her request. If you have any questions, she will be taking up residence on B7, as I have relocated into the corporate wing. Thank you."

A quiet murmur broke out amongst the scientists, and pretty soon they were back into the swing of things.

Lucius turned back to face Barbara and motioned for her to exit the lab and head back into the elevator, where he pressed the button for B7. "While I made it abundantly clear that your employment history made you more than capable to handle this assignment, you may experience some resistance from some of our more veteran employees and board members. If that happens, I only have one word of advice." The elevator doors opened, and he shot her a confident look. "Push back."

The lights outside the elevator flickered on, and Barbara stepped forward with a gasp.

It was a large, almost completely open laboratory looking space. To her immediate left was a huge desk filled with several flat-screen computer monitors. On the right were several workbenches with every sort of engineering tool she would ever need, as well as several fingerprint lock-enabled storage devices for products currently in their final testing state. And on the far end of the floor was a large field test range, perfect for testing new weaponry. A large freight elevator was located on the other side of the wall, also containing a retinal scan.

"Any larger tech that you'll need to test will come in over there – with your permission of course," Lucius continued, oblivious to the glaze of wonder forming over Barbara's eyes. "There's a private room behind the desk, complete with a bathroom, shower, and settee, should you find yourself spending more time here around scheduled product presentations. However, both Mr. Wayne and I do not support overworking yourself, especially in such a highly sensitive setting. Stick to your schedule, make any appointments during your normally scheduled hours if all possible, and feel free to take a break if you should need it.

"Now, about our computer systems - "

"Excuse me, Lucius, one moment," Barbara finally interrupted him. He turned to look at her expectantly. "I'm just confused on one point. If I'm not going to be working directly with the development engineers that we just met, what exactly will I need this space for?"

"Yes," he winced, "I suppose I didn't outline your actual job responsibilities beyond "weapons and technology development supervisor", did I?" Sighing, he rubbed his hand across his head. "The easiest way I can describe it – you know the old phrase you break it, you buy it?"

Barbara nodded.

"As the Wayne Institute Research and Development Supervisor, you have a hand in approving which projects are acquired, and which are developed by our in-house team. And then once we've bought the idea, you need to break it. Break it, and then make it better." With that, he handed Barbara a WayneTech tablet. "Think you can handle this?"

Barbara took one look around B7 –  _her lab!_  - and nodded. "Absolutely."

__

Her first week as the Wayne Institute Research and Development Supervisor was a resounding success. Well, at least for her. As soon as she had gotten set up on the system, she'd begun going through the latest WayneTech offerings and systematically breaking each one. By the end of the day on Tuesday she'd hacked two new WayneTech firewall offerings. On Wednesday she shattered three different indestructible cell-phone screen prototypes, Thursday was spent outlining the flaws in the chemical composition and barrel expulsion of a paralytic handgun they'd just acquired, and she was in the middle of mapping out the structural weaknesses of their latest body armor offering when her phone rang.

Pushing herself away from her workstation, Barbara scooted herself over to her cell phone on her wheely chair. "This is Barbara."

"Hey little sis! Are we still on for lunch today?"

"Yeah, that sounds great! I'm due for a break any minute." 

"Good. I'm about ten minutes away from that new bistro that opened up across from Wayne Tower, let's plan on meeting there."

"Sounds good! I'll be right over!"

"Oh, and I'm bringing Harvey with me, is that okay?"

"Of course," Barbara smiled into her phone. "It's been too long since I've seen him, anyways."

"Great, we'll see you in ten!"

Barbara stuffed the armor into storage, stepped into her black velvet stiletto heels and made her way towards the elevator. Ever since her first day, she'd opted out of wearing her heels while working, sticking to regulation non-stick shoes instead. In addition, she'd pushed aside her corporate dresses in her closet for board meeting days, instead opting to wear a steady flow of blouses and dress pants. Today she'd chosen something a bit more on the casual side, a pair of tight black pants and a flowy black and white pinstripe Portofino blouse. No one really saw her clothing, but it helped her get into the right frame of mind for work, so she dressed nicely in spite of her relative isolation.

The elevator reached the main floor and she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the suddenly bright sunlight. She nodded a quick hello at security before exiting the tower and crossing the street to Moony's Bistro. 

The door chimed as it opened and Barbara found herself in a surprisingly swanky café. The walls were decorated with what looked like incredibly expensive art. Everything on the inside – the rugs, the seats, even part of the walls – were covered in a burgundy colored velvet.

The man standing behind the counter at the entrance cleared his throat, and Barbara refocused her gaze on him with a smile. "Hi, sorry about that - "

" - this weather keeps up, I might even go tanning!"

Harvey's voice broke in loudly as he and Jim stepped through the door, the chime ringing at their entrance. "Dear Lord, please send rain," Jim replied jokingly. 

Snorting, Harvey turned around and grinned when he saw Brabara. "Speaking of sunshine - "

"Harvey!" Barbara held her arms out and embraced the man. "It's so good to see you, how have you been?"

"Better now that you're here, my dear. Jim's been smiling so much this week, I almost had him tested!"

Jim rolled his eyes as Barbara laughed, but leaned in to hug her with a smile anyways. "Good to see you, Babs. How's the new job? Three, please," Jim motioned to the waiter behind the counter.

"How about we order first, and then I tell you all about it."

Harvey stuck his finger out at her and waved it in her face. "Now this is a girl with her head on straight."

Jim and Barbara both laughed at that, and the group made their way over to a corner booth. After ordering their sandwiches, the group soon lost track of time as Barbara gave her first impressions of both the job, and of Wayne Enterprises.

" - the Starbucks was completely filled with blonde supermodels!"

"I'm starting to think I'm in the wrong field," Harvey muttered into his beer. Jim elbowed him in the side in response.

"But besides the random paparazzi issues and the occasional celebrity stock-pile in Starbucks, you're enjoying it?"

"Yeah," Barbara nodded happily. "I like it a lot."

"Good," Jim breathed in relief. "I'm really glad to hear that."

"What about you?" Barbara asked, fiddling with her tiramisu. "How are things at work?"

Harvey took a giant chug of his beer and set it back down with a sigh. "Surprisingly quiet right now. We've had a good three months."

"There's the occasional issue at Arkham, but that's only because it's almost at capacity," Jim added.

Barbara frowned. "Arkham? That's the penitentiary for psychologically-traumatized individuals, yes?"

"You mean the criminally insane asylum? Yep, that's the one," Harvey scoffed.

"I think one of them got out, Detective," a deep voice spoke from behind Barbara. Turning in her seat, Barbara found herself looking at none other than Bruce Wayne, who had a lazy grin on his face. "Why else would you let this scoundrel run loose?"

Laughing, Jim stood up from his seat and moved to embrace Bruce. "Bruce! How've you been?"

Bruce's laugh matched Jim's and volume, and he returned the embrace eagerly. "Jim, good to see you as always. And, well," he motioned behind him to a large group of blondes, "I'm doing pretty well, if I do say so myself."

Barbara fought back the urge to groan loudly, instead opting to send a scathing look at Harvey, who just chuckled in response. She shook her head as her attention drifted back to her brother. 

Jim chuckled uncomfortably. "I'll take your word for it."

Bruce clapped Jim on the shoulder before leaning in to nod at Harvey. "Afternoon, Detective." He turned his head, and Barbara found herself in his gaze, his bright blue eyes locked on her. "And who is your lovely guest?"

Barbara pressed her lips into a firm imitation of a smile. "Barbara Gordon."

"Wait - " Bruce turned to look at Jim. "She's your sister? This gorgeous girl is your sister. And you didn't tell me?"

"With good reason," he replied, a strained smile on his face.

Bruce turned back, face arranged into an expression of delight. "Well, Ms. Gordon, it is such an honor to make your acquaintance. Jim here is one of the best men I know, just an incredible public servant. I'm truly proud to call him my friend."

"I guess I'll keep him," she replied with a smirk, eyes drifting over to Jim. Jim's eyes were wide as he watched, as if trying to prevent her from being too – well, being too Barbara.

Bruce chuckled, shooting a look back at Jim.  "She's got that Gordon spirit, that's for sure. So," he said, turning back to face her, "are you here for a long visit?"

"Actually Bruce - "

"I just moved here," Barbara cut Jim off, ignoring his increasingly frantic facial expressions. "Yeah, I got recruited to work at a start-up here in Gotham."

"Oh, really?" Bruce asked, an intrigued tone in his voice. "I do some work with up and coming business ventures. What's this one called?"

She smiled brightly, grabbing hold of her water glass. "Wayne Enterprises."

Harvey spit out his beer, trying and failing to cover his lap. Barbara took a final sip of her water before setting it down loudly on the table.

Bruce's face froze. "Ms. Gordon - "

She glanced down at her watch. "And that's my cue to get back to work. Harvey, it was great to see you, let me know when you want to get take-out, I'm always down to eat sesame chicken." Grabbing hold of her purse, she scooted out of the booth, ignoring Bruce's slightly agape mouth. "Jim, I'll see you tonight, make sure you pick up that bottle of chardonnay after work today." Swinging her purse onto shoulder, she quirked her eyebrow and smiled coolly at Bruce. "Mr. Wayne."

With that, she brushed past him, pushed her way through the crowd of models waiting to be seated, and made her way back to the Tower. 

 **You just couldn't resist, could you,** Jim texted her.

Barbara laughed out loud as she stepped into the elevator.  _It was too good to pass up._

**Look, just try not to embarrass your boss and the man who continues to fund my re-election campaigns in the future, okay?**

_I make no promises._


	4. Chapter 4

Barbara only waited a few moments after knocking to step into Jim and Selina's house. "Hello? Anybody here?"

A sudden crash came from the kitchen, followed by what sounded like the screech of a cat. "Come on in, Babs!" She heard Selina call out.

"Everything okay?" She hollered back just as Jim entered the hallway.

"Don't worry about it," he said, grabbing hold of Barbara's blazer and hanging it by the door. "Just a bit of a mishap with one of the strays and Selina's special Italian seasoning. I hope you like garlic," he finished in a mutter before heading back towards the kitchen.

Twenty minutes and one broken bottle of Chardonnay later, Barbara was helping Selina set the table while Jim was mopping up the wine in the kitchen, muttering all the while. Selina rolled her eyes at Barbara before going into the kitchen and kissing the grimace off his face.

"I'm sorry - "

"It's quite all right, dear. I'm just glad no one got hurt."

The doorbell rang, interrupting any further canoodling that may have taken place. Jim glanced over at Selina with a frown. "Were you expecting someone?" 

Selina shook her head. "Not tonight." The timer on the oven suddenly went off, and Selina tripped past Jim, swearing as she reached for her oven mitts. "Barbara, would you mind getting the door? I need to get this fettuccini out of the oven while Jim finishes up the floor."

"Yeah, no worries," she replied. The doorbell rang again as she drew nearer. "One second!" Barbara called out. Reaching for the door handle, she yanked hard, and the door swung open to reveal none other than Bruce Wayne, dressed in an impeccable navy suit and holding a bottle of wine.

"Mr. Wayne," Barbara started slowly. She could practically  _hear_ her brow furrowing at the sight. "We weren't expecting you."

Bruce let out a lazy chuckle as his gaze devoured Barbara. "No one ever does, Ms. Gordon."

"Bruce?" Selina's voice carried from the kitchen. Running into the hallway, Selina raced to the door and wrapped her arms around him in a large hug. "Bruce! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Yes, well, I was in the neighborhood, and Jim had mentioned something of a family dinner tonight. I hope it's not too much of a bother if I crash the party?"

 "You're always welcome here, you know that. Of course, you'd be  _more_ welcome if you brought a bottle of wine."

With a grin, Bruce handed the bottle to Selina. "How does a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonna from Paris sound?"

Selina swiped the bottle out of Bruce's hands with a grin. "My hero," she purred, before pivoting on her heel and making her way towards the kitchen.

It took a Herculean amount of effort, but Barbara resisted the urge to roll her eyes, opting to just turn to follow Selina instead. She felt a large, warm hand close around her arm. When she looked back, she suddenly found herself inches away from Bruce Wayne.

"Ms. Gordon," he paused to clear his throat before continuing. "I am truly sorry if I caused you any offense earlier today. I can assure you, that was not my intention."

_Be nice_ , her inner Jim cautioned. Schooling her face into a smile, Barbara slowly withdrew her arm from his grasp. "It's in the past, Mr. Wayne. I think we should keep it that way."

"Indeed," he muttered quietly, his eyes searching her face. His intense expression was gone in a flash a moment later, his lazy smirk slowly taking back over his features. "Well, I for one am glad to hear it."

"Enough flirting, you two, it's time to eat!" Selina called out as she stepped into the hallway. This time, Barbara did roll her eyes before stepping around Bruce and making her way into the dining room. Selina shot a wink in Barbara's direction as she passed, causing a sudden heat to bloom on her cheeks. 

"You be nice, you hear?" Jim whispered to her as she entered the dining room. 

Barbara fluttered her eyelashes at him as she sat down. "I'm always nice."

Jim snorted, but didn't argue further, as he was too busy greeting Bruce and helping Selina walk the rest of the dishes over to the table. 

Dinner, to Barbara's immense surprise, went extremely well. Most of the time was spent listening to Bruce's recounting of his most previous business trip, which had started in Paris and somehow ended in an alcohol-induced yacht race off the coast of Madagascar. Jim ate the whole thing up, of course, while Selina make snarky comments between sips of the wine – which Barbara had googled during her bathroom break and saw cost $12,000 A BOTTLE – and Barbara carefully catalogued Bruce's facial expressions. If he was every bit as brilliant as Selina suggested he was, then she wanted to get as much intel on the man as she could.

In all honesty, she was surprised that they'd lasted until dessert before Bruce turned his attention to her.

"So, Ms. Gordon - "

"Barbara is fine, Mr. Wayne."

"Then please, call me Bruce."

"Okay – thank you," Barbara said to Selina, who handed her a rather large slice of strawberry cheesecake. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask how you ended up at Wayne Industries."

She frowned before taking a bite. "Weren't you part of the candidate selection process?"

Bruce waved his hand in a lazy manner. "In all honesty, Lucius runs Wayne Industries. I'm just the pretty face they put on the billboards."

"Aww, but you're so good at that," Selina sang mockingly. 

"You'd think they'd be able to find someone who's actually good-looking," Jim cut in, winking at Selina.

The table – minus Bruce - burst out into laughter at that. Bruce, for his part, managed enough humility to blush and harmlessly slap at Jim's arm. "What can I say, I come cheap."

Selina snorted loudly into her wine glass, which almost caused Barbara to choke on her cheesecake.

This time it was Bruce who rolled his eyes. "Anyways, as I was saying, Lucius does most of the heavy lifting at Wayne Industries. I knew that he was looking to hire a replacement, but I had to be overseas during most of the process, so I trusted him to pick the best candidate. I have to say," he continued, his fork cutting a delicate line into his cheesecake, "you have quite the impressive resume. Graduated high school at 14, MIT at 17 - "

"My baby sister's a genius," Jim grinned as he chewed, shooting a large wink in Barbara's direction. 

" - and Former CIA Special Agent and Supervising Specialist of the CIA's Special Programs division by the age of 21. That's no small accomplishment."

"Thank you," Barbara finally replied, a blush on her cheeks. "It's been an incredible journey."

"That, I believe," Bruce replied, leaning back in his chair. "So, I ask again; what brought you to Wayne Industries?"

Barbara was silent for a moment before answering. "I wanted to get out of the government," she finally replied, incredibly conscious of the clinks of forks against dishware as both Jim and Selina set down their utensils. "I'd spent the last twelve years totally focused on my goal of working in Special Programs, but after a while the lifestyle got to be too much. You can't really get attached to anyone while you're working there, not without significant risk. And honestly, I wanted to be closer to Jim. He's all I have left now," she finished quietly.

Jim's hand made his way over to her. Looking up at him, she saw him smiling sadly at her before squeezing his hand. 

"It was the right choice for me," she finished, turning to look back at Bruce. 

Bruce hummed before taking another bite of the cheesecake. "Did you have any other offers?"

"Yes, actually, I was all set to take on a similar position at LutherCorp when Lucius contacted me. With Wayne Industries being based in Gotham, it just made more sense to work here. And Lucius makes one hell of a sales pitch."

At that Bruce grinned. "That he does. Well, I'll make sure to rub your employment in Luthor's face as often as I can."

Barbara snorted and rolled her eyes. Squeezing Jim's hand, she let go, and moved to take another bite of her cheesecake.

"Jim, do you mind helping me clear the table?" Selina asked, pushing backwards.

"Of course," he replied. "Either of you want a refill of wine?"

"No thanks," Barbara smiled, taking another bite of her cheesecake.

Selina and Jim picked up their empty plates and made their way into the kitchen. As soon as they'd left the room, Bruce's demeanor changed almost instantly.

"So, tell me, Barbara," he leaned forward, resting his arms and elbows on the table. "What's your damage?"

Her fork fell onto her plate with a clatter. "Excuse me?"

"Graduated high school at the age of 14, did an intensive four-year Bachelor's to Ph.D. program at MIT in three and a half years, joined the CIA three weeks after graduation, was promoted to Supervising Specialist of the Special Programs Division at the age of 21, and two weeks shy of obtaining seniority status in your division, you hand in your resignation."

"Mr. Wayne - "

"Your parents passed away when you were very young after a freak skydiving accident. Your grandmother died when you were twelve from a very aggressive strain of breast cancer, and your grandfather passed just a few weeks after your initiation into the CIA from a bad bout of pneumonia. There was no externally violent component to any of their deaths."

"I - "

"Of course, Jim being your brother, I'm sure you heard stories about his career at the police academy and his posting here in Gotham. But I don't think that was it."

"Mr. Wayne," Barbara cut him off coldly, "what is your point with all of this, other than you clearly did your homework before joining us for dinner?"

"I'm just curious, Ms. Gordon," Bruce said in a low voice. His eyes grew dark as he leaned closer to her from across the table. "Curious as to what would cause someone like you, with your intellectual caliber, to have dedicated nearly half of your life to the continued development and supervision of military-grade weaponry. No one in your immediate family, other than Jim, has done any kind of government security work. And Jim hadn't even settled on striving to be a police officer by the time you had declared your major in mechanical engineering at MIT. There was no indicator on any of your placement tests that this is something you'd be interested in, at least to this extent, but here you are. After you consider all of this, there's really only one conclusion."

"Enlighten me."

"Something must have happened to you. Something horrible, something that frightened you so much that you've dedicated your life to devising highly efficient ways of preventing anyone from getting close to you again, should they mean you harm. 

"So I ask you, Barbara Gordon; what's your damage?"

Barbara gripped the tablecloth in front of her until her knuckles were white. The air in the room suddenly felt too warm, and her heartbeat slowly began to drown out the sound of Jim and Selina's conversation in the kitchen. She took a deep breath and focused on glaring at Bruce, who was smiling at her in a way that was calculatingly unaffected.

""It's in the past, Mr. Wayne. I think we should keep it that way."

 She could see the moment he realized his miscalculation. His eyes widened slightly, his nostrils flared, and his smile grew too wide and much too forced. "Ms. Gordon - "

"Everything all right in here?" Jim asked, poking his head out of the kitchen.

"Everything's great," Barbara replied, plastering a smile on her face that she knew didn't match the ice in her eyes. She pushed herself back from her chair and stood up. "I think it's time for me to head home."

"Already? You're more than welcome to stay for a nightcap," Jim replied.

"I know, but it's been a big week, and I could use a good night's sleep." Ignoring Bruce's eyes, which she could feel were trained on her back, she walked over to Jim and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks again for having me over."

"Anytime, sis, you know that," he replied, giving her a tight hug. 

"Selina, everything was wonderful, thank you so much," Barbara moved to hug Selina, who had silently crept out of the kitchen.

"Thank you for coming," Selina squeezed Barbara. "Think you can make the trip home?"

Barbara genuinely chuckled. "It's a bit of a drive, but I think I'll make it."

She heard the sound of Bruce's chair scratching the wood floor as he rose from the table as well. "I'd be more than happy to escort you home, Ms. Gordon - "

"That won't be necessary, thank you." Barbara replied without even looking at him, instead crossing the room and opening the door that connected the two brownstones together. Sticking her key into the locked handle, the door swung open into her own dining space, and Barbara turned around to give one final forced smile to the group. "Good night!" 

She shut the door behind her tightly, the sound of the lock re-engaging drowning out the chorus of goodbyes. Barbara slumped against the door the moment it was shut and sighed. Her back was starting to itch again, the fabric of her clothes irritating her skin, her mark, that mark - 

Fighting the impulse to curl up in a ball, Barbara instead made her way upstairs and took an extremely hot and incredibly long shower. Nothing could scrape  _it_ off her back but rubbing her skin raw always made her feel better when she was having one of these panic attacks. 

Her nerves had mostly settled by the time she'd crawled into bed, but if she focused on the silence in her room for too long, she would start to hear the faint echoes of a place straight out of her nightmares, from a time that felt like a lifetime ago. 

"Yeah, I'm not dealing with this shit tonight," she muttered to herself as she turned on the TV in her room to the stock market channel. Soon the sound of droning commentary on NASDAQ futures filled her bedroom. Yawning, Barbara burrowed under her piles of blankets and focused on the sound of stock market analysis before finally succumbing to a restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of my first upload for "Queen of Hearts"! I'm really excited to hear what you all think of this. If you've been following Valkyrie Rising, my other current in-the-works Barbara Gordon fic, I think this one definitely has a different feel. If you haven't been following Valkyrie, please check it out! In any case, I've been blessed with a litter of plot bunnies who are all jumping for attention, and most of them are Barbara Gordon/various hero pairings. I like her so much as a character because of her resilient personality and just how much she truly cares about others, so that's what's inspiring me to write all of these. The Gotham-verse is definitely darker than other possible verses for Barbara to occupy, but don't worry, I plan on writing PLENTY of stories about my girl :) In any case, I was excited at the prospect of writing a different sort of Barbara & Joker story, and Barbara and Bruce are basically writing themselves. Again, thanks for taking the time to read this, and please let me know your comments/feedback/suggestions! Much love to you all!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence against women, PTSD, allusions to torture, panic attacks

Thankfully, the rest of Barbara's weekend was relatively cheerful, so much so that when she walked into work on Monday, she didn't even throw the large vase of "I'm Sorry" hyacinths that had magically appeared on her desk across the room. Instead, she cut all of the blooms off of the stalks, stuffed them into the bottom of the vase until they looked like they had drowned, and had the arrangement sent back upstairs to Mr. Wayne's office. It might not have been the world's most mature thing to do but hey, it was progress.

Bruce seemed to get the hint, which Barbara was grateful for. In fact, the next few weeks flew by without any sign of the cryptically-intelligent-yet-allegedly-brain-dead Wayne Industries CEO, either near her department or in the Tower at all. In fact, the only indicator he was at the Tower these days was the presence of paparazzi loitering outside, and even they were mostly absent.

In any case, the next three weeks of Barbara's employment were relatively calm. There was a brief contamination issue with that paralytic handgun again, and Barbara had accidentally made one of the researchers cry after sending the prototype for a more flexible body armor back to the lab for the twelfth time, but other than that, things were going swimmingly. Even the news that as a senior member of Wayne Enterprises staff that she _had_ to attend the Wayne Enterprises gala in a little over a month couldn’t dampen her spirits.

In retrospect, it was only a matter of time until the other shoe dropped.

\--

A piercing squeal poured out of the loudspeakers, drowning out Gotham Jazz Radio. Barbara jumped at the sound, almost dropping the portable precognitive missile launcher in the process. She steadied her hands just in time and, exhaling slowly, carefully set the launcher back on the lab table.

“This is a tower-wide alert,” a recorded feminine voice droned from the speakers, the alarms quieting down. “There has been a break-out from Arkham Asylum. Wayne Tower will be on lockdown until the authorities arrive for evacuation. Please remain in your stations until further notice. In case of an emergency, please dial the operator.”

The lights in B7 changed over into a bright red. Shrugging her lightweight cardigan over her shoulders, Barbara whirled around in her chair in time to see her computers power down automatically. “Well, that’s reassuring,” she murmured to herself.

Grabbing hold of her coffee, Barbara turned and scooted her way towards the lounge. As long as the computers were powered down, she couldn’t work, so she might as well get comfortable until they evacuated.

Crossing the threshold of the lounge, Barbara stood up and all but threw herself onto the memory-foam settee in the center of the room. She fumbled around in the cushions for a bit, searching for the television remote. “Please be powered on, please be powered on -”

Her hand connected with the remote, and she pressed the “Power On” button. The screen to her right flickered to life. “Yes!” Crossing her knees, she settled down to watch the newscast, hands running to pin back her lobbed red hair.

“ - _developing, Ryan, and so far no one has been able to give us a clear estimate of just how many inmates escaped. Mayor Harvey Dent will be giving a statement here shortly.”_

_“All right, thank you, Janine. For those of you just tuning in, Gotham City has been declared a state of emergency as several explosions rocked Arkham Asylum moments ago. Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon has advised all civilians to stay in their homes until further notice. For our viewers currently in the downtown area, the GCPD is beginning their evacuation of major businesses, and they strongly encourage that you stay indoors until they arrive and are able to escort you off the premises. We’ll now take you over to Matt, who is on site with the GCPD. Matt, what’s the situation over there?”_

_“Thanks, Ryan. From what my sources are telling me, it appears that this jailbreak is the largest one Gotham City has seen since Arkham Asylum’s opening five years ago. There have been seven smaller instances of escapement to date, but none at this magnitude. Authorities are saying that at least nine explosives were detonated at the time of the event, although they are not yet saying just how many potential cell blocks those explosions would have impacted.”_

_“Have there been any rumblings about the identities of the supposed escapees?”_

_“Nothing yet, Ryan, but the GCPD has assured me that a complete list will be available once the situation at Arkham is settled._

_“Great, thanks Matt, let us know when you have an update. Now, for those of you unaware with Arkham Asylum’s history, the penitentiary for the criminally insane was built in Gotham City five years ago this April. Most recent counts indicated that over seventy individuals were currently incarcerated behind its walls, many of which were receiving treatment for their socially undesirable behaviors. The most famous of its inmates -”_

The lights in B7 snapped back to white, drawing Barbara’s attention away. “The Gotham City Police Department has arrived to evacuate Wayne Tower,” the voice spoke again, drowning out the news anchor. Barbara turned off the television and stood, reaching for her purse. “Please make your way to the lobby in an orderly fashion. If you are able to take the stairs, please consider doing so to assist with our elderly and disabled guests. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Unfortunately, R&D was only accessible by the retinal-scanned-controlled elevators, meaning that it took several minutes before the carriage arrived. By the time Barbara step foot into the lobby, it was absolute chaos.

Barbara blinked in shock for a few moments, watching as streams of employees in suits and bodycon skirts ran and pushed themselves out of the lobby. Several spilled Starbucks drinks decorated the floor of the Tower, and the police barricade at the front of the Tower was trying to calm the WI employees, to no avail. An elevator pinged open behind Barbara, and she’d barely braced herself for the sudden wave of employees rushing towards the front doors.

“Barbara!"

Shaking her head, Barbara’s eyes scanned the room, finally settling on a frantically-waving Harvey Bullock. She jumped into motion, speedwalking through the crowded lobby. “Harvey? What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you get home safely,” he replied gruffly. Grabbing hold of her arm, he pulled her through the police barricade and out the doors of Wayne Tower.

“Shouldn’t you be with Jim?” She tried to wiggle her way out of his grasp just a little bit, but his grip around her forearm was ironclad.

“I will be, once I get you home.” He nodded at a pair of police officers standing near an unmarked cruiser. The taller of the pair opened the passenger door, motioning for Barbara to step in. Huffing, she murmured a quick “thanks” to the officer and slid into the car, the door slamming shut behind her.

“Not that I don’t love your company,” she remarked as Harvey locked the doors, turning the key in the ignition, “but this seems a little excessive."

Harvey snorted, shifting the car into gear. “There’s a whole host of crazies from Arkham that want to hurt Jim, Red. The minute they find out he’s got family in town, it’s hunting season on your head.”

Barbara’s nose crinkled at him. “Shouldn’t I go somewhere else, then? A safehouse or something? What good is going home going to do me?”

At that, Harvey relaxed slightly, and this time when he snorted, it was in amusement. “Even the psychos know better than to go near Selina Kyle.”

Barbara stared at him, a large frown on her face, but he volunteered no more information. He just sped through an eerily silent Gotham City. And the further and further they drove from Wayne Tower, the more Barbara felt certain that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

\--

She’d barely stepped through the front door when Jim pulled her into a tight embrace. “Barbara, thank God, you’re okay.”

Frowning, Barbara squirmed in his arms. “Of course I’m okay! Why wouldn’t I be? And why the hell are you here and not, I don’t know, _at the police station?!”_

_“_ Just picking up some supplies,” he said, sending a sharp look towards Harvey, who was standing directly behind Barbara.

Barbara squinted at Jim, dropping her hands onto her hips. “And just what sort of supplies?”

“The not entirely legal kind.” Selina appeared from behind Jim, pulling Barbara into the brownstone. “We’ll be fine, I promise.”

Nodding quickly, Jim kissed Selina desperately, gave Barbara one last hug, and ran out the door towards Harvey. “Get the car started, Bullock, we need to be back in ten!” The door to the brownstone closed with a resounding slam.

She felt Selina squeeze her hand. “He’ll be all right, I promise.” Barbara turned to look at her and relaxed at the comforting smile on Selina’s face. “Come on, let's have lunch.”

\--

“What did you mean, by ‘not entirely legal’ supplies?”

Selina sighed, dropping her spoon back into her bowl. “This doesn’t leave this house.”

“Okay?” Seeing the sharp look Selina was sending in her direction, Barbara cleared her throat. “Yes, okay, I agree.”

“Look, I don’t know what Jim told you about Gotham before you got here, but it’s not exactly a good place,” Selina began, leaning back in her chair. “It’s known as the criminal capital of the world for a reason. Every institution in Gotham is built on a foundation of lies and corruption, and almost everyone here has ties to the criminal underworld.”

“Even in the police department?”

She snorted. “Especially in the police department. Jim’s good at his job, and he does what he can to clear out the chaff, so to speak. But there are some lines he can’t afford to cross without getting a target on his back. And when that happens, he has to work with people outside of local law enforcement.”

Barbara frowned, setting her spoon down on the table. “What people?”

“Well, it’s less of a ‘people’ and more of a ‘person’ thing -”

“Who?”

Selina’s eyes flickered away from Barbara almost anxiously. She felt her heart thud to a stop.

“The vigilante.”

“Yep. Batman.”

“Batman? What kind of name is that?”

“I mean, it’s not the world’s most intimidating vigilante name or whatever, but it gets the job done. Just like the man who wears it.”

Now it was Barbara’s turn to sigh. Shutting her eyes, she began to massage her temples. “How often does this happen?”

“It depends, honestly. It just so happens that today is one of the worse incidents.” Selina was silent for a moment, watching as Barbara continued to anxiously rub her head. “We could put on the news, if you like. Just to keep an eye on things.”

“That’d be really helpful, actually.”

“I aim to please, sis.”

\--

Despite the whole mass-breakout-from-an-insane-asylum and surprise-your-brother-is-illegally-working-with-a-vigilante-slash-fugitive-of-the-law thing, the day was surprisingly uneventful. Selina and Barbara had turned on the television in the sitting room and sat in front of the screen. Eventually, they found that the news began repeating itself over and over, so Selina started knitting and Barbara played games on her tablet, both half-listening for the next bit of news.

It was late in the evening when Mayor Dent finally aired his press conference.

“Barbara, the press conference is on!” Selina hollered.

Barbara emerged from the kitchen, a slightly damp towel in her hands. “Perfect timing, I just finished dishes.”

“ _Good evening,”_ a handsome blonde man began speaking. “ _As many of you know, at approximately 8:37 this morning, several low-caliber explosions were detonated at Arkham Asylum. While the structural integrity of the building has been compromised, very few cell blocks were directly damaged by the explosion. However, during the course of this horrific attack, nine highly dangerous individuals broke out of Arkham Asylum. Three of the escapees have already been recovered, due to the tireless work of the Gotham City Police Department. However, six criminally-insane-convicts remain on the loose, and the GCPD has advised all Gotham City citizens to remain in their homes until further notice._

_“At this time, I would like to invite Police Commissioner Jim Gordon forward to speak as to the identities of the six escapees.”_

Barbara stepped around the sofa, standing slightly in front of it as she strained to get a better view. Her brother strode onto the scene, the stiffness in his stride betraying his stress. “ _Thank you, mayor._

_“If you will turn your attention to the screen behind you, the Gotham City Police Department has put together a slide containing the identities of the missing fugitives.”_

The telecast switched over so that the camera was focused on the screen, and Barbara dropped the towel in her hands.

There, in the midst of five other headshots, was the face that she’d spent years of her life trying to forget. The face that she saw when she shut her eyes at night. The face she saw tormenting her in her nightmares, watching, laughing as she screamed, as she writhed on the ground, as the burning heat singed the skin on her back -

_Well, I’m Jerome. It's nice to meet you, Harlee-quinn._

“ _\- most dangerous of the group is Jerome Valeska, more commonly known as the Joker.”_

“Oh my fucking God,” she heard Selina murmur behind her.

“ - _remind the public not to engage with this individual. Too many lives have been lost due to this obsession with -”_

The television screen suddenly flickered, the screen of convicts fading into a darkened room. “ _Hello, hello, hello! Is this thing on?”_ A purple suit coat appeared on the screen, blocking the face of the speaker. It didn’t matter, of course; Barbara would know his voice anywhere.

“ _Ahh, yes, there we go!”_ The speaker pulled back, and Barbara felt tears rush to her eyes as she found herself looking at Jerome Valeska.

“ _Good evening, Gotham City! I had to interrupt this broadcast – who am I kidding, I love it!”_ He broke off laughing maniacally. “ _I’ve gotta tell ya, Gotham, it's good to be back! And not a moment too soon. It seems you’ve all grown complacent, happy to just play whatever little roles you think you need to play. But don’t worry,”_ his face drew close to the camera, “ _I’m here to set you free!_

_“And speaking of setting free, the time has come for a new muse.”_ Jerome disappeared from in front of the camera. It began to shake, as if it was being lifted off of a stand, and whomever was moving the camera started walking to the far corner of the room they were in. And there, lying in the far corner of the warehouse, was a young woman dressed in familiar blacks and reds, diamonds painted on her face. She began to push herself away from the cameraman, tears streaming down her face.

“ _I’m taking applications, Gotham,”_ he began to cackle. “ _You know what they say; fourteenth time’s the charm!”_

The girl on the television began to cry out - _“No, please, why”-_ and the air around Barbara grew warm, and suddenly her dinner was forcing itself back up and out.

\--

Barbara sat crying on the bathroom floor. Selina returned with a glass of water, gazing at Barbara sadly. “Sorry, sweetheart. That – that was really brutal. I forget how bad it can get sometimes.”

She shuddered as she accepted the water glass, sobs threatening to overtake her system again. “Does this happen often?”

Selina’s face grew sad. “More than it should. How are you feeling?”

Sniffling, Barbara set the now-empty water glass down on the ground, rubbing at her face. “I’m okay, it’s just a lot.”

“You should stay here tonight. How about you take a shower and relax? I’ll get the room set up for you. Jim would probably feel better if you were here when he got back anyways.”

Barbara just nodded. Shooting her one last soft smile, Selina exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. The moment the lock clicked down on the door, Barbara threw her shirt off of her back, desperate to get the cloth away from her itching, burning skin –

_You’re mine, Harley! You’re mine!_

Pulling herself into the shower on adrenaline alone, she turned on the water until it was scorching hot. It began to pound down from the showerhead, and she sat herself gently on the floor. The water fell all around her, its heated drops mixing with her tears, and with a prayer and a sob, Barbara let the water wash her demon away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been such a long wait! I've been working on other projects, but I am committed to completing my Barbara Gordon stories! (I also have another one currently in the pre-planning stages, which I'm really excited about). Let me know what you think about the chapter! I don't want to wait too long before jumping into the Bruce/Barbara goodness, so the sooner we get to ground zero with Jerome, the better in my book!


	6. Chapter 6

 Barbara groaned, reaching for her phone. The screen flashed to light. _2:17._

_“_ Great,” she grunted, rubbing her free hand against her face. After her emotional shower, Barbara had all but passed out on the couch in Jim and Selina’s brownstone. She’d woken up when Jim stumbled in, and had been wrestling with consciousness ever since. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that face, she felt that burn on her skin, and his laugh chased her thoughts around her head until she had to check her phone, to try to dispel it somehow.

Feeling his laugh coming on, Barbara reached for her phone again and flicked it on. _2:19._

_“_ That’s it,” she muttered to herself. Sitting up, Barbara grabbed hold of the fuzzy fleece blanket that Jim had draped across her shoulders and slowly shuffled towards the kitchen, yawning as she walked. She flicked on the light as she entered and stopped short.

Jim was all but slumped over the kitchen table, his head resting next to a darkened laptop screen. His neck was inclined at what looked to be an incredibly uncomfortable angle, and Barbara winced in sympathy. _Yeah, that’ll be sore in the morning._

Pattering over to his side, she gently rubbed his shoulder. “Jimmy, wake up.”

Snorting, Jim quickly shoved himself off of the table and back into his chair. “Huuzwut?”

“It’s time to go to bed,” she whispered, gently pulling him to his feet. Jim resisted, dropping his yawn into his hands.

“Can’t, gotta go back soon -”

“And you need to be well-rested. Bed. Now.”

Jim must have been more tired than he initially appeared, because he stopped resisting and allowed Barbara to maneuver him towards the staircase. “Now, go get some sleep,” she ordered.

“Wake’em me up in three – ahhh – hours,” he yawned, ascending the stairs.

“You got it, boss,” she murmured, shaking her head at him fondly. Jim just waved her off, slowly padding his way up the carpeted elevation. Barbara stood silently and watched, and once he’d reached the top of the stairs and disappeared, she turned and made her way back towards the kitchen. Sitting back down at the table, she wrapped her blanket tighter over her shoulders and hit the power button.

\--

The bedside clock started beeping at 6:00. Jim groaned and reached over towards the nightstand, hitting the snooze button much more forcefully than what was probably needed. “Good morning,” Selina murmured sleepily, turning over to face him.

“Ugh, is it?”

She snorted delicately, and Jim pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. “Go back to sleep.”

“Love you,” she murmured. Smiling, he kissed her again, and quietly made his way into their bathroom. Glancing at the clock – 6:03, he had to be at the precinct by 6:30 at the latest – he blearily raced through his morning routine. He tossed his jacket over his shoulders and, shutting the door to their bedroom, was planning on bypassing the kitchen entirely when Barbara appeared at the foot of the stairs.

“Hey,” Jim whispered as he made his way downstairs. “Why’re you up?”

“I packed your bag,” she smiled, handing him his laptop case. “And a triple-shot mocha.”

Jim moaned at the sight of his to-go tumbler and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re the best, sis. Go try to get some more rest, okay? City’s still on lockdown.”

“Ok,” Barbara nodded, hugging Jim quickly. “Be safe out there.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” With one final squeeze, Jim let go and made his way outside, into the dark of Gotham’s streets.

\--

Hacking Jim’s computer had been all too easy.

Saving copies of all his files took mere minutes.

But going through them, on the other hand – that was going to take much longer. So, once she’d finished copying over _everything –_ 2:41, per her cell phone – she'd shut the computer back down and forced herself to try to get some rest. It didn’t come, of course, and upon hearing Jim’s alarm go off, she gave up trying.

As soon as he’d closed the door behind her, Barbara dropped the note she’d written for Selina on the kitchen table and crossed into her own brownstone. Shutting the door softly behind her, she made her way down into her small basement, blanket and tablet (now with illegally copied files courtesy of the GCPD’s terrible security system) in hand.

The basement of the brownstone was unfurnished and windowless, which made it the perfect place to work. She flicked on the lights and made her way to the closest she was using as storage. Unlike the rest of the basement, the floor of the closet was carpeted, and if she had to be _somewhere_ in her house and go through all of this shit, she wanted to feel relatively secure and walled in.

Pulling on the frayed string hanging from the ceiling, Barbara stepped into the closest and sank to her feet, her box marked “Circus” well-enough in sight. “All right, Jim,” she muttered, switching on her tablet, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

\--

Selina had tried calling twice before Barbara finally picked up the phone.

“Hey, Selina.”

“Good, you’re awake! You up for a late lunch?”

Barbara glanced down at her tablet. _1:14 P.M._

_“_ Yeah, sure, I just need to take a shower.”

“Perfect, the souffle needs another twenty. Just come over when you’re ready!” With that, Selina disconnected, and Barbara dropped her phone onto the table.

"Jesus,” she muttered, glancing down at the scribbled notes decorating her table. It had only taken browsing the first few files for Barbara to realize that she needed some other way of organizing her thoughts. Consequently, seven hours and over a hundred-autopsies and crime-scene reports later, her basement was looking less like a basement and more like a war room. With good reason. It was clear that the GCPD had no idea what they were dealing with – well, beyond a psychopath. And Barbara couldn’t honestly blame them; almost every crime scene was different, and none of _his “_ Harley”s ever died in the exact same way. But for whatever reason, it hadn't clicked for the GCPD.

It was all too clear to Barbara.

Harleen Quinzel. Selma Reesedale. Cara Greenway. Chase Merridan. Tia Brand. Miranda Kelly. Carrie Tate. Marley DeVoe. Emma Vale. Holly Robinson. Michelle Calvi. And last night, Dinah Rayner. Twelve women, all with red hair, all trussed up in mockeries of that damn Halloween costume, and bearing the same mark, the same mark that she -

(It taken twenty minutes after glancing at the pictures in the first autopsy report for Barbara to re-center herself.)

_Harleen Quinzel,_ the report began. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Identifier: Harley Quinn. Age: 27. Race: Caucasian. File No. 57-93632. Agency Case number: 3632JV1._ _Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to poison._

_Item of Note:_ _Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

And there it was; a freshly-made, perfectly-aligned diamond, burned onto the center of her back.

(She’d almost thrown up, and she’d had to wrench her own shirt off to stop her – to stop _it_ from itching in response.)

The rest of the autopsy reports went by in a blur.

Selma Reesedale. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Electrocution. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Cara Greenway. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Suspension trauma. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Chase Merridan. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Thermal trauma. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Tia Brand. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Decapacitation. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Miranda Kelly. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Methamphetamine overdose. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Carrie Tate. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Drowning. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Marley DeVoe. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Exposure to nuclear radiation. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Emma Vale. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Exsanguination via knife wound. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Holly Robinson. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Exsanguination via sawblade. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Michelle Calvi. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Starvation. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

Dinah Rayner. _Voluntary recruitment by POI. Cause of Death: Death by beating. Antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn, T6 center position._

The detectives had notated that the “antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burn” was probably just a marker, used to indicate that those were the Joker’s victims to whomever found the corpse.

(They were wrong.)

Each of those “antemortem octahedral diamond dermal burns” had a slightly different shape. They were all octahedral diamonds, but some lines were more relaxed, some had bolder burn patterns, and one – Carrie Tate, Harley #8 – was longer and wider than any of the others.

(It wasn’t a marking system. It was an evolution. It was an attempt to replicate – _she'd almost thrown up again –_ it was an attempt to replicate the octahedral diamond dermal burn on her own back, the one that had been deformed by a mole that day when the strongman -)

Barbara’s phone buzzed again. _Ten minutes! Hope you’re in the shower!_

She reached for her phone, sent an affirmative to Selina, and then clicked open a new message.

_G, I’ve been having that nightmare again. The circus is coming to Gotham._

His response came surprisingly quick.

_Don’t fly too close to the sun._

She sent him the code to the drive with the GCPD’s files, swept her notes into a box on the floor, and shut down the lights in her basement.

It was time for a shower, and it was time for a plan.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence - I have a lot of ideas currently percolating and so getting myself focused enough to not start writing one of the 7000 new ideas I have is taking a lot of discipline. ANYWAYS here's a chapter to thank you for your patience and yes, with God as my witness, I will be finishing this! Love you all and here's to a productive week :)


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